Caviar

In referring to carp as "garbage fish" tasting like "a pincushion dipped in Pennzoil," it's obvious that Paul Dean has never tasted ekree. This delicacy, made from carp eggs by my Romanian grandmother, is a version of inexpensive caviar. And although I cannot comment about the taste of monkey brains, thymus glands can be delicious when sauteed and properly seasoned. It sounds to me like Dean is a McDonald's kind of guy who might profit by expanding his epicureal horizons.

Years of spiraling prices have been supremely frustrating for avocado enthusiasts ("Avocado Growers See Mexican Threat," July 22). What was once an inexpensive item has morphed into something akin to produce-aisle caviar. But unlike caviar, which is produced from dwindling, over-farmed species, avocados are an agricultural crop whose supply can be readily adapted to meet demand. In Mexico, avocados remain plentiful and relatively cheap, their prices in line with other agricultural items.

Although the Garden of Eden opened its antique Moroccan doors just two weeks ago, the club's already the local of choice for the private party set. Eden's thrown a half dozen galas, and the gala-ist of all occurred last Friday, when Detour magazine sponsored a party there for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's 30th anniversary screening of the all-time cult favorite "The Valley of the Dolls."

It is a sad state of affairs that the families of U.S. Marines serving in the Middle East must struggle to make ends meet here at home ("Times Are Tough for Those Left Behind," March 18). While these Marines are willing to fight and perhaps die for this country, they should not have the added worry of how their families are surviving at home. This is a shameful situation, and steps should be taken immediately to issue much-needed help in the way of extra money, food, housing, etc., to the families of these brave men and women.

October 22, 1987 | ANNE WILLAN, Willan, cooking teacher and author, is founder and president of La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. She lives in Washington. and

In France, the home of the bistro, the revolution has arrived at last. No longer need you take for granted the hearty pork, cabbage, potato and beans that were the bistro diet of yesteryear. The names may be the same, but with luck the traditional confit and cassoulet, ramekin and ragout will conceal a refreshingly new approach to traditional dishes. Consider that favorite, escargots a la Bourguignonne, for instance.

Bastille rockin' the stage, Solange at the turntable, a caviar bar on ice and a Jeff Koons on the lawn. Jimmy Choo knows how to party alright. And party the brand did on Tuesday night in L.A. when creative director Sandra Choi hosted a launch for the new, tomboyish rock 'n' roll-themed CHOO.08 collection and newly redesigned Rodeo Drive store. The bash was held at the Beverly Hills Mid-Century home of Eugenio Lopez Alonso, the international art patron who recently sponsored the opening of the new Museo Jumex contemporary art museum in Mexico City.

Some of the biggest dance talents in Hollywood and some of their most devoted fans will congregate at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Jan. 17 to catch the world premiere of "That's Dancing!" and to celebrate the event later at a supper-dance at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

No offense, "Mad Men," nothing personal, "Lost," but the best thing I saw on television last year was "Food Party," a six-episode IFC series that might most easily, if not at all adequately, be described as splitting the difference between Julia Child's "The French Chef" and "Pee-Wee's Playhouse." It began its second season — 20 15-minute episodes showing back to back over 10 weeks — April 27 and it is as strange and delightful, poetic and beautiful, silly and disturbing — and even more ambitious, in its homemade, handmade way — as ever.

Life, the weekly picture magazine, and television, which killed it, have always had a peculiar fascination each with the other, the fateful attraction of victim and executioner. Life and Time sponsored and largely staffed television's first primitive coverage of a presidential election, the Truman-Dewey contest in 1948. When Life turned 21 in 1957, "Omnibus" and its host, Alistair Cooke, celebrated the magazine's coming of age with a kind of docudrama on how the week's issue was put together.